


Máthair

by pizzagirl



Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Time Travel, Avengers: Endgame (Movie) Spoilers, F/M, M/M, Steve's travels with the infinity stones, The Author Regrets Nothing, Time Travel Fix-It, hand wavy medical science of 1930s
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-16
Updated: 2019-06-16
Packaged: 2020-05-12 15:55:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,055
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19232302
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pizzagirl/pseuds/pizzagirl
Summary: Steve’s return the infinity stones time tour was nearly complete. As he placed the Tesseract into the compartment at SHIELD headquarters, he gently closed the door, hoping to not only attract attention to himself, but so as not to disturb the cube. Satisfied that everything went as planned, he started to make his way towards the exit when he heard voices approaching. He ducked into the closest door, and when he realized whose office he was next to, a sense of deja vu swept through him.





	Máthair

**Author's Note:**

> Many thanks to Aenaria for helping me figure out hospital locations, when Google could only do so much. She's a great cheerleader on writing.
> 
> I haven't posted anything new in ages. So I feel a bit rusty. I saw a post on Tumblr about a scenario like this, and just ran with the idea. I hope you enjoy.

Steve’s return the infinity stones time tour was nearly complete. As he placed the Tesseract into the compartment at SHIELD headquarters, he gently closed the door, hoping to not only attract attention to himself, but so as not to disturb the cube. Satisfied that everything went as planned, he started to make his way towards the exit when he heard voices approaching. He ducked into the closest door, and when he realized whose office he was next to, a sense of deja vu swept through him. 

 

Peggy Carter was standing at her desk, shuffling through some papers. Steve neared the window between the rooms, happy the blinds were still obscuring him from being seen. He was just about to leave when her office door opened and someone else walked in.

 

“Peg, we’ve got to get going, or we’ll be late for the meeting.”

 

She gathered the papers together and nodded. “Thank you Gabe. I had wanted to take another look at the data, as it had reminded me of something.” She sighed, glancing down at the photo of Steve from bootcamp. “Tell me, honestly now, do you think what we’re doing here is actually accomplishing good?”

 

Gabe Jones walked closer to Peggy and put his arm around her shoulders. She leaned into his embrace, as a small smile graced her lips. “I know we are. We may not be as explosive with what we’re doing, as say Dernier would’ve liked, but we’re helping bring about change.”

 

She hummed. “And hopefully protecting the world from bullies.” Peggy set her paperwork down and pulled him into a hug.

 

Gabe chuckled quietly and kissed her on her forehead. “I’d like to think that we are.” 

 

Steve needed to get out of here, as he knew he had intruded too much already. Peggy of his time had told him that she had lived a life, and had always had a twinkle of happiness in her eyes when she said that. He had thought maybe he could get a life with her in the ‘40s with the extra Pym Particles he had taken before replacing the Tesseract. But now seeing her in her element, living her life, he knew he would not find his life with her in the ‘40s. However, what she had said about bullies struck a chord with him. He should clear his head and visit the person who first inspired him to always get back up. He had just enough Pym Particles for this side trip there and back to 2023. 

 

* * *

 

_ Brooklyn 1930 _

 

Steve appeared in a familiar alley. So familiar, in fact, that he had to ensure that he didn’t run into his past self. He quickly got his bearings and worked his way towards the Brooklyn Hospital. If he did his calculations correctly, he should be able to catch her shortly before her shift ended. 

 

He skirted around towards the back entrance of the hospital, near the delivery area. He was happy for the lack of technology of the time, so he was able to sneak in without raising any suspicion. In the laundry area, he was able to find a white doctor’s coat. After some more digging, he felt more presentable as a doctor of the time, having snagged a stethoscope around his neck. He let out a deep breath and tried to imagine where she would be stationed at this time. 

 

He remembered Natasha’s advice about blending in and managed to do so while he located the TB Ward. At the end of the hallway, in an elegant old-fashioned nursing uniform with a mask covering her mouth, stood Sarah Rogers. The sunlight was glinting through the windows, catching her soft blonde hair, causing her to have an almost halo around her head. If Steve hadn’t known the serum had cured all that ailed him, he could’ve sworn his heart skipped a beat. 

 

He watched as she carefully tucked in a patient. She moved to another bed where a younger patient was lying, and he saw her gesture animatedly with her hands as the child perked up. He realized he was just standing there and tried to busy himself by grabbing a chart hanging off the end of a nearby bed. He didn’t understand any of the scribbles on the sheet, but he knew she was working her way towards him. 

 

“Oh,” she said as she reached him. “I had thought all the doctors had left this ward for the evening.”

 

He shrugged, thankful to also be wearing a mask. He couldn’t believe he was seeing his mother again. He hadn’t seen her in over 10 years in years lived, or nearly 90 years in real time. She looked younger than he ever remembered seeing her. 

 

She narrowed her eyes. “I don’t think I’ve met you before, Doctor?”

 

He cleared his throat. “Um, Grant. Dr. Grant.” He tried to disguise his voice a bit, and hoped he did it well enough that she wouldn’t recognize him. He must’ve done good enough as she merely nodded at the name. “I just came back to see how everyone was faring.”

 

“Things are progressing as well as can be, given the circumstances.” She kept checking on the patients, and he followed along, grabbing the charts and pretending to study what was on them. If she had figured out that he had no idea what he was reading, she didn’t let on. Just being near her was more soothing than he could have imagined. Then he heard her cough. 

 

“Are you okay?” he asked quickly.

 

Her eyes crinkled, so he knew she must’ve been smiling under her mask. “Now now, don’t be hasty. It was just a cough from the dry weather outside.” She finished making her rounds of the room and washed her hands at the sink near the door. Steve did the same.

 

“Any little cough makes me nervous.” 

 

She chuckled. “Aye, I can understand. My boy, Steven, falls ill easily.”

 

“That must be tough for you, with your work here.”

 

She nodded. “Somewhat. I know if it’s something serious versus a general malady.” She waited for him to follow her out of the room and down the hallway before she continued. “I suspect he is predisposed to some things, given his asthma and nervous disposition. But he doesn’t let that stop him.” 

 

Steve smiled. “So he’s a tough guy?”

 

Sarah laughed loudly at that. “Well, he tries. Between him and his best friend, the two of them get up to more than their fair share of trouble. But they always say it’s for a noble cause.” 

 

“I’m sure that makes it all better.”

 

By this point, Sarah has pulled her mask off, so Steve could see her smile now. For all that he cured his eidetic memory, it somehow never managed to capture his mother’s smile just right. His hands itched for a pencil to sketch it before the image faded. 

 

“It doesn’t, but at least I know that he has someone looking out for him when I am unable.” She paused and studied him. “Are you new at the hospital, Dr. Grant? I don’t think I’ve seen you before, but you look familiar.”

 

“Oh, um, yes. I just finished a rotation in another ward and transferred here,” he answered, fumbling for some words he’d heard while watching an episode of Grey’s Anatomy, at Sam’s insistence, of course. 

 

She nodded. “That must be it then.” She stopped at the nurse’s station on the floor and exchanged parts of her uniform for a handbag. She looked at a nearby closet and looked expectantly at him. The closet had “Doctor” marked on it. He changed out of the white coat and found a suit coat that he’d hoped would fit him and reluctantly took off the mask. When he turned around, he saw his mother watching him closely, with an almost knowing look on her face, but she didn’t say anything aside from nodding to a door. 

 

Once on the street, the two continued to walk in silence for a bit. Steve didn’t recognize a lot of buildings near the hospital, as his mother didn’t let him come visit her at work. 

 

“Dr. Grant, you look like you are having deep thoughts.” She stopped walking and turned to face him. 

 

Steve laughed quietly and rubbed the back of his neck. He missed the way his mother’s eyes widened as he did this. “I guess I am. Some really big things just happened, and I guess I am at a loss for what to do next. I feel like I have lost my way.”

 

Sarah nodded. “I suppose that would be true when starting a new rotation,” she replied, a smile at her lips. “It would be a big change.”

 

“Ah, yeah, I mean, yes. I guess I always have wanted to do what was right.”

 

“Sometimes doing what is right isn’t easy, you know.” She put a hand on his arm. “Whether that be getting back up if something or someone knocks you down, or standing up to bullies.”

 

Steve had to blink back tears. He hadn’t heard these words from her in years; however, she had told him this many times when he had come home with scraped knees, a bloodied nose, or even one time with a black eye. “But I’ve got to get up and keep trying.”

 

She looked at him in wonder. “Yes,” she breathed out. “You’ve heard this before?”

 

He looked down at the sidewalk before meeting her eyes. “Something like that. I just hadn’t heard it in a while. Forgotten my way, I suppose.”

 

“That’s easy to do. It’s easy to get overwhelmed.” She looked up at the building they were near, which he now realized was his old tenement building. “I need to get inside to my Steven. Make sure he and Bucky haven’t gotten into too much trouble while I was at work.”

 

He sniffed and wiped at an eye. “Oh, I’m so sorry I’ve kept you, Mrs. Rogers.”

 

She smiled. “No worries, doctor. It has been enlightening.” She paused for a moment, before pulling him in for a hug. “Take care, mo mhac,” she added in a whisper.

 

Steve stood there dumbfounded as Sarah climbed the steps to the door of the building. When the door closed, he searched for a nearby alley, as he knew where he needed to go.

 

* * *

 

_ Stark Cabin, 2023 _

 

Behind him, Steve heard Banner angrily yelling at the machines, joined by Sam. Then he heard Bucky’s calm voice. 

 

“Hey Cap.” Sam came and sat next to him on the bench facing the lake. “Had us all worried there for a bit.”

 

“Sorry Sam. Had to make a couple of extra stops.” He motioned to a circular bag. 

 

Sam’s eyes widened. “That’s not what I think it is, is it?” 

 

Steve nodded. “It’s yours if you want it.”

 

Sam looked back at Bucky, as if confirming he wasn’t hallucinating. Bucky just smiled and shook his head. Sam unzipped the bag and pulled out the shield, completely unharmed from the last time they all saw it. “I don’t know man.”

 

“I’m sure of it.” 

 

Sam walked away, still shaking his head, as Bucky made his way over. 

 

“Didn’t think you were coming back, pal.”

 

Steve shrugged. “For a time, I wasn’t entirely sure either, Buck.”

 

Bucky looked him up and down. “Nice clothes.”

 

Steve laughed, realizing he still had the suit coat on from the ‘30s. “Yeah, little detour. But a good one.”

 

Bucky raised an eyebrow. “Should’ve figured you to make a return the stones into something extra. You’ve always been extra, punk.”

 

Steve bumped his shoulder with his own. “Well, takes someone like that to know one, jerk.” Bucky laughed. “Plus,” Steve added, “you’re stuck with me ‘til the end of the line. At least that’s what I thought I was promised at one point.”

 

Both of Bucky’s eyebrows shot up, but then a huge grin spread across his face. “Yeah, I did say that. What have ya got in mind?”

 

“Dunno. But we’re in the future, so I think we can figure something out.” Steve leaned his head on Bucky’s shoulder. “What do ya say?”

 

Bucky brought his arm up and around Steve’s shoulder, pulling him closer, as he leaned his head on top of Steve’s. “I think we can manage.”  
  


**Author's Note:**

> Gaelic/Irish translations via Google. Title means "Mother" and Sarah calls Steve "my son."


End file.
